Dog Bite Law Blog

Another Child Killed By Dog - USA Fatality #3 for 2009

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Created on Monday, 19 January 2009 18:27

On January 15, 2009, Brooklynn Grace Milburn, a 3-year-old girl from Fort Worth, Texas, was killed by a neighbor's Rottweiler dog. She was playing in her back yard when she crawled through a hole in the fence. Her parents believed that the hole was too small for her to get through. (Read the article.)

Two factors on the Dog Attack Danger Scale were present here: 

* A dog in its own yard, and no master present. 
* Pit bull, Rottweiler, Akita or Chow. 

Two other dangerous factors, not on the scale, were also involved:

* Texas is a one-bite state. The law tells dog owners that they need not be vigilant because they won't be held civilly liable until AFTER their dog mauls one person (unless the dog owner's negligence or intentional conduct caused the attack). (To learn more about the Texas law, see Texas. Go to Model Dog Bite Laws if you are interested in eliminating the one-bite law in Texas.)

* The first meeting of a dog and a child. Colleen Lynn, the founder of DogsBite.org, reports that a significant percent of fatalities happen when a dog and a child first meet. For examples, see Canine Homicides at the topic Dangerous and Vicious Dogs on Dog Bite Law.